Face of the tea party is female

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Women have come to the fore of a movement some liberal critics labeled as a group of angry white men. | AP
AP Photo

Since Democratic candidates traditionally attract the majority of women’s votes, the emergence of an energized group of female conservatives is something the Republicans who have assiduously courted them will pay off this November.

“If, in fact, the tea party movement were to bring women into the Republican ranks who were not otherwise affiliated with the process before, or were former Democrats, that would certainly be good for the Republicans,” said Quinnipiac’s Brown.

The gender gap also could make the tea party more of an electoral force in its own right, Brown said.

Lu Ann Busse, head of the Colorado coalition of tea partyesque 9.12 Project groups, sees another practical political advantage to having so many women associated with the tea party — it makes it harder to vilify a movement when its public face is a female one.

“How do you justify figuratively or literally beating up on grandmas and moms with children in tow? It just does not look good,” the 54-year-old grandmother wrote in a blog post last month declaring women “the Tea Party Super Majority.”

Busse estimates that about 60 percent of the active members in the Colorado tea party and 9.12 Project groups are women. “The political elite and power players do not know what to make of us tea party women or how to deal with us,” she wrote, “but that is too bad because we are on a mission.”

Toby Marie Walker, co-founder of the 5,000-member Waco (Texas) Tea Party, said women have proved themselves more adept at handling disagreements within the movement and are “better communicators.”

“Most of the women I deal with in the movement are a lot like me,” she said. "Even if I don't like them, or disagree with them, I recognize we're all on the same highway, we are just on different buses and can agree to disagree.”

Walker said it is women in particular who have pushed back against efforts to build a more centralized leadership structure for the tea party movement, which some organizers suggest could help the movement translate its energy into electoral success.

“Most of the women do not want a large, top-down movement,” Walker said. “We like the local flavor and independence of the tea parties. We don't need anyone to tell us what to do from D.C. or a large organization to lead us. We're capable of handling most of it on our own.”

Supply fears start to hit Treasuries By Michael Mackenzie in New York and David Oakley in London

Published: March 26 2010 19:18 | Last updated: March 26 2010 19:18

The bond vigilantes are finally flexing their muscles. A long period of stability for the US government bond market showed signs of cracking this week as a lack of investor appetite for new debt sent the benchmark 10-year yield to its highest level since last June.

For more than a year, analysts have been warning that record d debt sales by the US Treasury were at odds with a 10-year yield sitting comfortably below 4 per cent. This week, the yield on 10-year notes jumped from 3.65 per cent to a peak of 3.92 per cent on Thursday. On Friday it was 3.87 per cent.

Falling inflation, rising unemployment, the housing market slump, the Federal Reserve’s policies of a near zero overnight borrowing rate and its purchase of up to $1,700bn in bonds have all helped keep Treasury yields near historic lows.

But this week the mood shifted as yields for $118bn of new US debt were much higher than forecast, sparking overall selling of Treasuries. Sentiment also deteriorated in the UK bond market after the government’s budget ahead of a general election expected in May failed to resolve doubts over future spending and debt reduction.

The term “bond vigilantes” was coined in the 1980s when bond investors pushed up long-term yields to force central banks into taking action to curb inflation. This time, bond investors are less worried about inflation: they are fretting about huge fiscal deficits and the looming bond supply needed to finance them.

“Everyone thought we would see rising rates due to higher inflation, but it appears the bond vigilantes are demanding a higher real rate due to concerns about Treasury issuance,” says George Goncalves, head of fixed income strategy at Nomura Securities.

The fact that German Bunds have outperformed both Treasuries and gilts in recent months highlights this increasing worry over public debt. Germany’s budget deficit is much lower than the US and UK and inflation there is also expected to remain low.

“The spotlight on Greece only helped to reveal that the US’s kitchen – with Federal and state budget balances – was itself full of cockroaches,” says William O’Donnell, strategist at RBS Securities.

It hasn’t helped that the US announced a big overhaul of its healthcare system this month, adding to worries about the scale of US spending.

Moreover, the Fed completes its bond buying programme next week, leaving the market to absorb the supply of new debt on its own. Next week’s March employment report, which economists say could see 150,000 jobs created, also looms as a test for bond market sentiment.

“The environment for debt auctions has turned negative,” says Rick Klingman, managing director at BNP Paribas. “Long-term rates are rising and it is no coincidence that this has occurred after the passage of healthcare reform and the end of Fed buy-backs.”

Also rattling US investors this week was a report by the Congressional Budget Office that falling payroll taxes due to high unemployment, means that the social security programme will pay out more in benefits than it receives for this fiscal year. “A sustained rise in yields is upon us and bond funds will start to incur losses,” says Jim Caron, global head of interest rate strategy at Morgan Stanley. He expects 10-year yields to reach 4.50 per cent in the second quarter, as investors pull their money from bond funds. March looms as the first month for negative returns for investors in Treasuries this year.

For now, other key markets such as equities and the dollar have not been affected by the rise in yields, but that may change if the 10-year rises decisively above 4 per cent and big auctions next month are also poorly received. “This appears as a credit shot across the Treasury market bow and concerns over the US fiscal spending could well move to the dollar and equities,” says Mr Goncalves.

A sign of the strains across US fixed income markets was this week’s historic rupture between the 10-year Treasury yield and its close derivative, the interest rate swap.

For the first time since swaps emerged in the mid-1980s, the 10-year swap rate traded below that of the “risk free” 10-year Treasury yield. Analysts say this reflects how government debt issuance has altered the dynamics between “risk-free” yields and swaps, which reflect borrowing costs for non-sovereign borrowers.

In the UK, swap rates have been below those of 10-year gilt yields since January. The yield on 10-year gilts was at 4.03 per cent on Friday, up from a low of 3.91 per cent earlier this week. The peak yield so far this year was 4.27 per cent in February. In Europe, however, swap rates are 20 basis points higher than 10-year yields.

“If we get clarity on what the UK will do on deficit reduction once the election is behind us, then the market and gilt yields could stabilise,” says Mike Amey, UK portfolio manager for Pimco.

Since the UK budget on Wednesday, the negative spread, or inversion, has widened with swap rates trading nearly 20 basis points below gilts for 10-year maturities compared with a negative spread of 10bps just before the government statement on public finances.

In other words, huge issuance is already creating unexpected distortions and stresses in the market. It is far from clear that we have seen the last of them, given the amounts that still need to be raised.

Why should my tax dollars go to other people’s health care just because they were too lazy or too uneducated to afford this privilege? This is all one big evil communist plot to turn us into Stalin's USSR or Canada. In fact I'm angry that my tax dollars are going to others for emergency room treatment. If you or your children can't afford to have your lives saved, then you should die in the hospital parking lot, instead of forcing me to waste my tax dollars on you. I’m sure many of my fellow Republicans feel the exact same way. Because one’s tax dollars going to save another America’s life is SOCIALISM!!!!

The GOP should work on repealing the health care bill so the health insurance industry can return to having the FREEDOM to deny people for pre existing conditions, (it's not my fault you didn't eat right, or your parents decided to breed even thought they had bad genes, that’s not my problem) and dropping people from their coverage because they didn't read the fine print (that’s your fault). With all the problems America is facing, all of this should be our top priority. This is going to make a good campaign slogan for us Republicans come the 2010 elections.

Sarah Palin is a train wreck looking for a place to happen. She is the punch line for a joke. She is the darling of the media who are waiting in the wings to eviscerate her. Her ignorance is cast in stone cut by her own hands.

I am a fiscal conservative and I would NEVER want her to run this country. What moron put her face on the Tea Party? She is part of the neocon Bible thumping portion of the party that made me rethink my politics.

TEA PARTY MOVEMENT was started by a WOMAN from Seattle, Washington named Keli Carender; a woman who was never politically active until PANTYWAIST-IN-CHIEF signed the $787 BILLION PORKULUS BILL. In fact majority of TEA PARTY GOERS are women from moderates, democrats, independents and conservatives. Political affiliation is set aside for these goers, they're CONCERN FUTURE FOR THEIR CHILDREN. They couldn't care less about political parties - their number is growing every day. Many men and young adults are joining them.

All I see is old white women, they all look like the devil is living in them, take a good look at their face,all red and crazy looking and the best they have is Palin cake with make-up and fake hair and sounding like the village idiot.

Come on, Demokooks. This one's served up just for you to demonstrate your trademark hate! We all know how much your manic hatred for anything Palin or women related sends you to the moon, so... let's see that good ol' Demokook hatred on full display!

Sarah Palin couldn't lead her way out of a paper bag. I so badly want repubs to put up someone worth voting for against Obama in 2012. I WILL NOT VOTE FOR PALIN. I repeat... I will not...vote...for...palin. I may not like Obama but Obama VS Palin will be the easiest decision of my life. Obama. For Gods sake put up Ron Paul. Please. Don't force me to vote for Obama!!!! I'm begging you republicans.

Sarah Palin has said she wants Obama to declare war on Iran. (would someone please send her a copy of the constitution, or at least a 7th grade civics text book) She is a Christian(nothing wrong with Christian... wait for the next part) fundamentalist lunatic, who is "simple" to say the least intelligence wise.

Repubs.....seriously. do you want to win back the presidency or not? she can't win!!!!

Politico, what are you doing? The whole article just contains conjecture. You took no time to put measurable facts in this writing. It reads like I saw some women at the tea party events so the tea party is mostly women.

In this administration's zeal to pass the most flawed and transparently corrupt piece of legislation in modern history, the Democratic leadership has failed to recognize the anger that the American electorate is manifesting at their arrogance and blatant disregard for the ‘Will of the People’. The Democratic leadership has crossed a threshold and now they own the resentment of a disenfranchised electorate. It is a watershed that was demonstrated at the polls in Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts and it will become the legacy of the Democratic party for years to come.

In this administration's zeal to pass the most flawed and transparently corrupt piece of legislation in modern history, the Democratic leadership has failed to recognize the anger that the American electorate is manifesting at their arrogance and blatant disregard for the ‘Will of the People’. The Democratic leadership has crossed a threshold and now they own the resentment of a disenfranchised electorate. It is a watershed that was demonstrated at the polls in Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts and it will become the legacy of the Democratic party for years to come.